Looking for ideas, advice, and help please

[ChrisThornes]

so i'v had my 2010 Camaro LS with 16,000 miles a little over a month now it has aftermarket exhaust the solo mach x set up and K&N cold air intake which came on the car when purchased. About a week after getting the car from the dealership i started to notice a whistling sound only between 2-3000 rpms and only while in drive it will not do it in park, or neutral. and only does it while accelerating between the 2-3000 rpm if i hold the pedal between those rpms it will last for as long as i hold it as soon as i let off it goes away until i accelerate back to that point again. i think i didn't hear it when i test drove it because i was full of excitement and had the radio and climate control etc going on. i'v searched and searched for any ideas but no luck. i even had it at the dealership and they said that it is nothing to worry about since there is no loss in power or CEL on. since it is a 2010 the factory warranty is over and the 30 day dealer warranty is over now also. it only drives me crazy when i have the radio off but it seems like it hasn't gotten any worse and i have checked all connections and screws on the K&N and snugged up the throttle body as well as gave each bolt on the intake manifold about a quarter to half turn thinking maybe a vacuum leak somewhere but its strange only hearing it as described above since it does not do it any other time. i have had K&N CAI on other vehicles in the past and never had one whistle before so i'm kinda skeptical about the problem being the CAI your thoughts are appreciated thanks for your help...

[RJT Impala]

Don't know what causes it, but my 2012 V6 does it also. I notice it at about the same rpm range--20-30 mph in about 3rd gear. It's been doing it since early in her life; has 33K on her now. I believe it has some relationship to throttle plate position and airflow past it. Used to her the same/similar sound with carburetor engines. Sometimes on those it was air leakage around the throttle shaft.

It would be interesting to hear if those who have installed a modified or aftermarket throttle body are experiencing the same whistling sound.

[ChrisThornes]

Originally Posted by RJT Impala

Don't know what causes it, but my 2012 V6 does it also. I notice it at about the same rpm range--20-30 mph in about 3rd gear. It's been doing it since early in her life; has 33K on her now. I believe it has some relationship to throttle plate position and airflow past it. Used to her the same/similar sound with carburetor engines. Sometimes on those it was air leakage around the throttle shaft.

It would be interesting to hear if those who have installed a modified or aftermarket throttle body are experiencing the same whistling sound.

i plan on adding the vmax ported throttle body sometime this summer i will update if the problem is gone. thanks for your comment

[PalmerGA]

Some here have experienced a "whistling" at certain speeds and have determined it was a result of the wind and the sideview mirrors. Not sure how you could confirm this other than maybe wrap and duct tape a towel around the mirrors and then taking a test drive.

**Find a lightly-traveled road to do this**

[ghosted]

2015 V6 here. CAI Inc Intake, VMAX Ported Throttle Body, and JacFab Intake Spacer, no whistling here. Had a K&N before the CAI Inc, no whistling there either.

I've heard of the mirror thing as well, FWIW.

[ChrisThornes]

here is a video i found on youtube of another car doing the exact same thing at the exact same rpms and the sound is dead on!!! maybe it is the CAI after all i dont know what do you think

It's your intake. Had Cai on my v6 and have it now on v8...plus my 2 for 4x4s. All whistle

[Dizzy82]

+2 on the intake as the cause.

[NHCamaroSS]

+3 on the intake being your culprit of whistling noise

[ron123]

To aid in airflow and noise reduction the Chevy engineers carefully designed resonators in to the OEM airtube. Maybe not the perfect intake tube but lots of thought went in to that design. Whistling reduction may have been one goal; but primarily done for airflow.
Below is a good description of the function of the air tube resonators from ehow; and picture of the V6 (V8 similar) OEM tube/resonators.



"The Common Misconception --
Most hot-rodders and car enthusiasts think of intake resonators as simple mufflers in the intake tube, devices designed to siphon all the awesomeness out of a car's sound track to appease soccer moms and senior citizens. That makes it a prime candidate for the "chuck-it" school of auto modification. After all, it's basically just a plastic tumor growing off of a tube that should by definition be as smooth and blemish free as possible. While sound control is indeed part of the resonator's job, the sound control itself is really more of a side effect of its primary purpose.

Pressure Wave Harmonics
Air flowing into your cylinder head's intake port doesn't move in a straight line while the valve is open, then politely stop in its tracks to await another valve opening. When the valve closes, the moving column of air slams into it, then compresses and bounces back like a spring. This pressure wave travels backward at the speed of sound until the intake runner opens up or it hits something, and then it bounces back toward the cylinder. This is the "first harmonic." The pressure wave actually bounces back and forth two or three more times before the intake valve opens again.

Intake Tube Pulses
The resonator in your intake is technically known as a Helmholz resonator, an acoustic device used to control pressure wave harmonics. Air bouncing back out of your engine and into the intake tube doesn't do it in a single pulse the way it would in a single intake runner; the multiple pistons put out pressure waves at their own intervals, and some of those are going to try to bounce back in while others are going out. The result is a "clog" or high pressure area in your intake tube that ultimately limits airflow through almost the entire rpm spectrum.

The Resonator
Adding an expansion chamber to the intake tube forces air coming back out of the engine to slow down to fill the cavity, thus expending a great deal of its energy and slowing the pressure wave reversion. This slowdown allows fresh air to flow toward the engine without fighting pressure reversion waves the entire way, thus aiding in cylinder filling. Since these pressure waves are essentially sound, giving them a place to expend their energy before exiting the air filter box ends up dampening the intake noise and quieting the engine. Thus, the resonator helps to make the engine paradoxically quieter and more powerful."
Ron

[Jackass]

Originally Posted by ron123

To aid in airflow and noise reduction the Chevy engineers carefully designed resonators in to the OEM airtube. Maybe not the perfect intake tube but lots of thought went in to that design. Whistling reduction may have been one goal; but primarily done for airflow.
Below is a good description of the function of the air tube resonators from ehow; and picture of the V6 (V8 similar) OEM tube/resonators.



"The Common Misconception --
Most hot-rodders and car enthusiasts think of intake resonators as simple mufflers in the intake tube, devices designed to siphon all the awesomeness out of a car's sound track to appease soccer moms and senior citizens. That makes it a prime candidate for the "chuck-it" school of auto modification. After all, it's basically just a plastic tumor growing off of a tube that should by definition be as smooth and blemish free as possible. While sound control is indeed part of the resonator's job, the sound control itself is really more of a side effect of its primary purpose.

Pressure Wave Harmonics
Air flowing into your cylinder head's intake port doesn't move in a straight line while the valve is open, then politely stop in its tracks to await another valve opening. When the valve closes, the moving column of air slams into it, then compresses and bounces back like a spring. This pressure wave travels backward at the speed of sound until the intake runner opens up or it hits something, and then it bounces back toward the cylinder. This is the "first harmonic." The pressure wave actually bounces back and forth two or three more times before the intake valve opens again.

Intake Tube Pulses
The resonator in your intake is technically known as a Helmholz resonator, an acoustic device used to control pressure wave harmonics. Air bouncing back out of your engine and into the intake tube doesn't do it in a single pulse the way it would in a single intake runner; the multiple pistons put out pressure waves at their own intervals, and some of those are going to try to bounce back in while others are going out. The result is a "clog" or high pressure area in your intake tube that ultimately limits airflow through almost the entire rpm spectrum.

The Resonator
Adding an expansion chamber to the intake tube forces air coming back out of the engine to slow down to fill the cavity, thus expending a great deal of its energy and slowing the pressure wave reversion. This slowdown allows fresh air to flow toward the engine without fighting pressure reversion waves the entire way, thus aiding in cylinder filling. Since these pressure waves are essentially sound, giving them a place to expend their energy before exiting the air filter box ends up dampening the intake noise and quieting the engine. Thus, the resonator helps to make the engine paradoxically quieter and more powerful."
Ron

Well done , and there you go , as the say goes saying that ,,,one can learn something new everyday ,,,

[HOJO]

Question, so the after market intake systems do not have this additional chamber attached, how does that affect these intake systems? Pros/Cons?

[ChrisThornes]

Thanks for all the knowledge and advice, its really appreciated!

[PalmerGA]

Another question (for OP)... what brand of cai are we talking about? I've had a CAI, Inc. intake on my 1SS for nearly 3-1/2 years with ZERO whistling from it. I stiil would check the mirrors first.